Music Room

by Judith C. Reveal

Life in Greensboro, MD changes for Conrad Trent when his landlady, Caroline Tinker, dies and leaves her estate worth five million dollars to him, with the request that as he discovers the ghosts that inhabit her home, he treat them with Extreme Delicacy. The request sets Conrad, the managing editor of the Greensboro Press and his good friend and publisher, Linsey Gale, off on a search for the answers to a mysterious murder that occurred over 70 years earlier.

As they unpeel each new layer of that crime, a new murder occurs until the final event leads directly to Conrad's home. But the truth of the crime of seven decades earlier is not discovered until the perpetrator of today's murders is revealed. And conrad and Lindsey must treat that truth with Extreme Delicacy.

ISBN 978-1-59431-702-X Mystery / Suspense



Chapter 1

Miss Caroline Tinker--Miss Carrie to the town of Greensboro--lay back on the sofa, her hair damp with perspiration; her breathing shallow. The summer was proving to be hotter than normal, with no relief in sight.

Miss Carrie wiped the sweat off of her forehead with a moist lace handkerchief. She turned toward the open window and listened. The air was heavy and still, when a breeze suddenly wafted through the tops of the cedar trees that surrounded the old farm house.

The shuffling noise of the air moving through the leaves had an oddly calming affect on her. And yet, her mind seemed to be grasping for some memory that she could not bring forward. The sound of the car driving away from the house; the crackling of tires on dry gravel, these drew her attention back to the present for a moment.

Getting old is hell, she thought. So many people wandering through my house, bringing me food that tastes terrible; pretending to clean my house, while they really only want to snoop. And all of them complainers in their own way. She turned and looked out the window toward the cottage at the back of her property. Except for Conrad, of course. She smiled at the thought of Conrad Trent, her tenant.

Conrad Trent kept to himself. Middle-aged, openly gay, he had arrived several years before to help run the local newspaper with his friend Lindsey Gale. Conrad had moved into the small cottage behind the main house with his partner, Marshall, and they were very open about their relationship from the beginning. Miss Carrie liked their honesty. Conrad lost his partner to death not long after they moved in, and he remained alone except for his friendship with Lindsey. Miss Carrie liked them both.

She strained to see if Conrad's car was parked in the driveway. Her vision had become blurred. She picked up her glasses and placed them on her face, but they didn't seem to help. She saw no movement from the cottage; heard no sounds to indicate that Conrad was there. She had hoped he might be able to take her to see Dr. O'Shaughnessy, but perhaps this weakness would fade shortly.

Her mind returned to its nagging search through decades and decades of her history, trying to grasp at a fleeting thought. There was a familiarity of some unnamed memory, but what, exactly, was it? The sound of the leaves rustling high above the house floated through the open window.

It was when she finally let her mind wander and stopped picking at it that the picture arose across the mist of time. She turned away from the window and scanned the parlor. The picture of the face raced through her memory. She could see it as clear as if it were yesterday. Where are those pictures? She asked herself. She slowly rose and shuffled out of the parlor and down the hall toward the door that had not been opened in over sixty years. She reached into her apron pocket and removed a set of keys. Fumbling, she found an old skeleton key and placed it in the lock. The sound of metal grating against metal, rust against rust, sent a shiver up her spine. She struggled with the key until she heard the snap of the lock turning. She nudged the door open and peeked around the corner.

Dust swirled up from the carpet as fresh air blew into the room, disturbing recollections that had been laid to rest years ago. Miss Carrie slipped past the door, barely opening it. She stepped lightly across the carpet until she arrived at the far end of the room. Several sheets of yellowed music sat on the old piano as if they expected to be read and played once again. She fingered the sheet music, moving one page at a time. In the middle of the stack she found an old picture. She lifted it and tucked it in her apron pocket; turned and shuffled out of the room, relocking the door, wishing not to disturb the memories any further.

She returned to the parlor and her place on the sofa before she removed the picture from her pocket. "Of course. I should have seen it before this." She ran her hand across the picture and removed the dust. "I remember that day as if it were yesterday."

Her breathing became shallow once again. She was unable to lift her legs onto the sofa. The sound of the cottage door opening caught her attention and as she turned to call out of the window, her voice failed. She tried to rise from the sofa--she needed to get to Conrad, to tell him what had happened. But she could not move her legs, and it was becoming difficult to move her arms. The picture fell out of her hand and onto the floor.

She heard the quiet rapping at the back door and knew that Conrad was coming to check on her. She tried to call to him, but again, no sound. She turned and looked out the window. The quiet breeze slipped through the window and caught the picture, lifting it slightly and carrying it across the room to where it blew under a chair at the far side of the room. Miss Carrie lay back on the sofa and closed her eyes. The last thing she heard was the wind rustling through the top of the cedar trees.

Review from SUSPENSE MAGAZINE

The Music Room:



After the wonderful debut novel Cheating Death by Judy Reveal, she is back with another winner! The Music Room includes her characters from Cheating Death Lindsey Gale and Conrad Trent. This time they are thrown in a mystery neither one of them expected. She goes a little different from the classic “who dunnit” genre, into a more thrill / mystery experience. She expands on her characters again in a way that make you want more and more. We see the growth that Judy has made in creating such a complex story that is extremely easy to read. Judy is an author that we will hear from in the future and she deserves to be mentioned with top authors of this genre.